49. Your personal work style is closer to spontaneous bursts of energy than organized and consistent efforts 

This one is kind of funny to me. So one of the things that drives me nuts when I’m watching, for example, a hallmark movie, is the way creative work is portrayed. Within Hallmark movies, there seem to be an inordinate number of creative professional. It’s typical to see one stuck on an ad campaign, for example, waiting for a creative lightning strike for inspiration. This just isn’t the way creative work happens. If I sat around and waited for this kind of thing, I’d never get anything done. I have had them on occasion, but I can’t wait for that. What I do is take the things that the client wants, and then start throwing down ideas. The natural creativity kicks in and you come up with ideas from the things you’ve culled together. But that happens naturally for creative people. I don’t know why, it’s just the way we’re built. So ultimately, even in creative work, it comes down to organized and consistent efforts as opposed to spontaneous bursts of energy. I’m no different. I have to come up with creative stuff for my job. I have a general procedure for getting started on things, and it involves an organized process. 

50. When someone thinks highly of you, you wonder how long it will take them to feel disappointed in you 

Disagree. I usually expect people are going to think well of me. If they don’t at first, I figure it’s just a matter of time before they do. I generally think all they have to do is get to know me, and then they’ll like me. It’s a very few who don’t.  

51. You would love a job that requires you to work alone most of the time 

Well, there are certainly times when I like to be left alone, but considering I voluntarily came back to the office even at the beginning of the pandemic, just so I could be here with the few others that were here, I think I could say I have a real-world test of this statement. 

I’ll grant that part of that equation is as follows. I’m an artist at law firm. Law firms make money by charging clients with billable hours. Part of my job, from 40-60% of my salary, can be billed because I am doing patent drawings. The rest is not. I’m in essence a luxury for the firm. There is some extra benefit in how quickly I can get drawings done too. For example, the previous guy would take around 3 weeks. I’ll do them usually in a few hours. Sometimes it may take me a few days, but most of the time it’s a couple of hours. This also translates into more freedom for the attorneys. So there are some benefits even beyond the direct billable hours, but still, my billable’s don’t pay for my salary. 

I therefore feel like my presence in the office helps explain what I do. I’m here, and when I accomplish things, I’m usually pretty diligent in making it known to my boss. This is basically political, so that I can establish my worth in whatever way possible. If I were just working at home, at some point, he might be thinking: is it really worth it to have him here? 

So while part of my being at the office is my efforts to contribute to job security, the other is because I actually do like it here. I have a nice office with a great view. My wife worked for 33 years at 3M and the only people who got offices were with a view were upper management. I have a killer view and I’m a nobody. I’m also stoked about it because, let’s face it, I worked in construction for a bunch of years, so I just think it’s cool to be able to dress nice and go to an office. Yeah, I worked as a freelance illustrator for 22 years between the construction job and here, but still, I remember being dirty for work and wishing I wasn’t.  

Add the people in too; like I said, we have a really social office, and overall, I’m really happy being here.  

But considering the question, it’s probably not so much about my personal work setup, but where do I fit on the loner v socialite spectrum. I still think I’m further to the social side.